


A Nasty Side Effect

by babywarg (morphaileffect)



Series: Ironstrange Bingo [17]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M, Short, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-22 10:55:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19666024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morphaileffect/pseuds/babywarg
Summary: Convinced that Stephen had bewitched him, Tony confronts the wizard and the new, confusing feelings he’s starting to experience.





	A Nasty Side Effect

**Author's Note:**

> Absolute fluff. This ficlet pretends they got the Gauntlet and somehow defeated Thanos on Titan, then came home to Earth and were all Avengers together - everyone happy and healthy and alive.
> 
> Listening to [“I Put a Spell on You” by TAWK Feat. Juliet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC9t83ZKGaI) on loop while writing this. [Nina Simone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua2k52n_Bvw) is still queen, but this version reeled me in somehow.
> 
> …nope, not really. I’m actually listening to [“Criminal” by Disturbed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmeOmCyG7PY). IDK why I lied about that.
> 
> For the Ironstrange Bingo square “Joy.”

“Whatever you’re doing to me,” Tony snapped, “cut it out, right now.”

That was a hell of a greeting, Stephen said to himself.

“I – “

“Don’t try to deny it.” Wagging a finger in his face, now. Charming. “I’ve talked to Rhodey and Natasha and Bruce, I’ve even talked to Steve. They all agreed with me that you’re doing some magic thingamajig.”

Stephen wasn't all that familiar with any of the other personalities Tony had named, but knowing Tony as well as he did, Stephen felt that Tony had probably talked all of them into agreeing with him.

…or was bluffing, and they didn’t agree at all, but Tony had to invent some sort of backup for his ridiculous claim.

“What, pray tell, kind of ‘magic thingamajig’ could I possibly be doing?” Stephen quietly challenged.

Tony folded his arms tightly across his chest. Standing as close as he did, Stephen could practically _feel_ the nervous energy that emanated from him.

Was Tony _blushing?_

“You used the big yellow hamster ball thingy to save the three of us when the donut ship crashed, right?” he began in a confrontational tone. “Since then I’ve felt all _weird_. Around you, especially.”

“Oh?” Stephen was genuinely interested. Tony’s concern for his own well-being triggered his “doctor” mode. “Can you elaborate on the symptoms? That would make it easier for me to prescribe treatment.”

It was possibly not magical. Perhaps it was an allergy. But could it be a magical allergy? There were books in the Sanctum that talked about that…

“I can’t sleep,” Tony began. “I have trouble eating. All I can think about is you and your stupid face and your stupid voice and you kicking Thanos’ ass with me until we got the Gauntlet. While I’m working, you pop into my head and I get distracted and nothing gets done. It’s like you’ve infected my brain or something.

"And that's not the worst part. The worst part is the songs! All those corny serenades and rock ballads I used to ignore - they're the soundtrack of my thoughts now. I hate how they now make so much _sense_.

"You walk into a room and everything looks brighter. When I see you I feel…happy. At peace. Like everything’s going to be okay.”

Stephen listened to all of it silently, keeping his poker face on.

“It was the hamster ball thingy, I’m sure of it,” Tony finished in annoyance.

“If that were the case, Peter would also be affected,” Stephen argued.

“Yeah, I guess you haven’t noticed,” Tony said sarcastically, “but the kid’s been hanging around you a lot. And hiding it from me, even!”

“He wants to learn magic,” Stephen explained. “He thinks it’s fascinating and complementary to his scientific studies. And he knows you’re uncomfortable with magic, so he thought it best to keep you out of the loop.”

“Shyeah,” Tony scoffed, “as if that better explains things than _magic_ does, in this situation.”

No amount of debate would change Tony’s mind, Stephen decided. Wow, the little jerk really thought I cast a spell on him and Peter.

Then Stephen asked himself, Why not have a little fun with that?

“Oooh,” he said with an exaggerated sense of dread. “I think I see. Yeah, that’s a…side effect of the big yellow hamster ball thingy, I’m afraid. Uncommon, and never intended, but could be quite potent. It’s a love spell.“

Tony’s eyes went wide as plates.

“A LOVE SPELL??” he exclaimed.

“And it looks like you got hit bad,” Stephen said with a tiny pout of sympathy. “Peter did, too, but he can still function normally. On the other hand, you - Tony, you. Need intervention.”

“What?!” Tony squeaked (yes, squeaked) in alarm. “Seriously??”

“Maybe we caught it early enough. A few sessions in the Sanctum with magic therapy ought to cure it. Maybe some psychic surgery…”

“NO.” Tony all but jumped back from Stephen, holding a hand out defensively, as if he was going to blast Stephen with nonexistent repulsor rays. “NO more. Magic got me into this mess, I am NOT letting more of that stuff into me.”

“This is serious, Tony,” Stephen said, advancing boldly. “You could die.”

“From a love spell??”

“From stupidity,” Stephen said fondly, stopping just a few inches away from Tony’s face. With a smirk, he explained, “I didn’t hit you with a love spell, you idiot.”

Their closeness seemed to take Tony’s breath away. He looked away, his blush becoming more pronounced.

“Then…what did you…?”

“Tony, I didn’t hit you with anything.” He ran his gaze over Tony’s face, softly continued, “Speaking as a doctor…what you’ve got appears to be a little bit of what _I’ve_ got.”

Tony swallowed. Stephen enjoyed watching that stark Adam’s apple bob up and down. “Which is…?”

Stephen reached out and tentatively touched Tony’s face. Far from tensing up, it seemed Tony relaxed under his touch.

Tony closed his eyes and parted his lips. It was all Stephen needed. He leaned forward and touched their lips together gently.

Tony kissed him back hungrily, and that was the final confirmation.

When they finally broke apart, Stephen smiled and confidently answered, “A crush.”  
  


***

_(6 months later)_  
  
“Still not sold on the idea that you didn't use magic on me…” Tony murmured.

Stephen couldn’t believe they were having this conversation again. It was 2 fricking AM.

“Are you _ever_ going to give me any credit?” Stephen groaned, gently rubbing Tony’s bare arm reassuringly from behind. “I didn’t need magic to get you to fall for me, okay? Just like you didn’t need any to get me to fall for you, and you did it _first_.”

Tony caught his hand, brought it up to his face, and kissed it.

“Wizards,” he muttered with absolute conviction, “can’t be trusted.”

Stephen pressed his lips against the back of Tony’s shoulder.

“This wizard can,” he promised. “Go to sleep, Tony.”

“Are you _sure_ you didn’t hit me with anything? Because whatever I got, I still got it bad…”

“I’m going to hit you with something soon if you don’t shut up and go to sleep.”

Tony twisted round under Stephen’s arm so they were facing each other.

“That sounds like a threat, Mr. Wizard,” he whispered in a low, annoyingly seductive tone.

Annoying, only because it was 2 AM and they both had to get up in a few hours.

Apart from that, it was really, definitely not annoying at all.


End file.
